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Public Works

I finally received all my admissions decisions and happy to say I got into four out of five schools I applied to, with two of them being the ones on top of my list! I was driving home on Thursday after a long day of lab, when I opened my e-mail at a red light and saw the beautiful words:

“Congratulations, we are excited to welcome you to our school for the Fall 2013 Nutritional Sciences/Dietetics program!”

I did an embarrassing happy dance in my seat all the way home. The schools I applied to aren’t anything close to Ivy League, they were just State schools. However, California has such a budget problem with universities and all schools are so impacted. I thought I wasn’t going to get into any of them even though I worked my ass off the past 2 1/2 years. Now I have to choose between staying in San Francisco and going to a slightly less ranked school or moving down to LA to go to a more recognized school.

My day grew exponentially better when I came home to find out that Public Bikes was having a weekend sale! The bike I was lusting over was on sale for $200 less, it almost seemed like a sign from above that I had to go and buy it. I had a few days to decide, so I thought really hard if it was a smart decision to buy the bike and decided to just check it out on Saturday to see if I loved it in person.

After I got off work on Saturday, I dragged my poor boyfriend (who worked for 26 hours the day before) along so we can use his truck to bring my bike home if I ended up buying it. This was my second time going bike shopping since we went two weeks ago.

Don’t mind if I do! Public shares it’s Valencia home with a cute furniture store. They were really busy with the overload of sale loving customers, so I looked around before I was helped. I ended up chatting with the founder of Public, it’s nice to see him still hanging out and helping customers.

I decided on which bike I wanted, but didn’t get to bring it home. I had a minor surgery the week before that didn’t allow me to test ride any of the bikes, so we couldn’t figure out which size worked well for me. I ended up just paying for it to lock in my price, and will come back next Saturday to pick up my beautiful new bike. Swoon

After we were finished, we drove down to SOMA and ate at Holy Grill for tasty burgers.

I’ve never heard of this place, but Chi’s friend owned it, so I figured I’d give it a shot. All the burgers are religious-inspired names, mi gusta!

I ended up getting the Trinity, to much deliberation. When I opened my box, I must admit I was a little bit startled. This burger was huge! Must be using one of the best natural gas grills!

I should of put a quarter next to it for size proportions. It came to a surprise to both of us when I finished the last bite, I never finish burgers. This vanilla shake helped wash down all 1000 calories of that bad boy.

Chi started getting cranky so we went home and I put him down for a nap (just kidding, babe) for two hours until it was time for dinner! My mom and her husband were in San Francisco during a seven hour layover from Oregon -> Hong Kong/Thailand, so it was great to see them before they leave out of the states for two weeks. We picked them up at my grandparents house, and took them to Cha Cha Cha‘s (on Mission St) for tapas.

We got parking right across the street (!!). I feel like I always mention parking, but for anyone who has ever lived in or visited San Francisco, you know it absolutely makes your day when the parking gods are on your side.

I love their exposed brick and hope to have it in my future house one day.

Cha Cha Cha’s is a definite San Francisco staple, I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t heard or visited this restaurant before. They are famous for their Cajun Shrimp, which is a FAOT (Food and Other Things) must try! I could come here and just dip my bread in their cajun sauce all day and all night long. I found the recipe online, but I’m afraid to attempt it at home, fearing that it won’t come out as good.

My second favorite tapa, the mushrooms. These are sautéed in some sort of white wine sauce. Excuse the blurry picture, the lighting in Cha Cha Cha’s is beautiful to hide a red face from their delicious Sangria, but horrible to take pictures in.

My third favorite, the calamari, which my mom’s husband states is the best calamari he has ate in a long time. Let’s keep in mind that he is a fisherman, and has had his fair share of calamari.

The chicken paillard, which also boasts a delicious sauce, comes in a close fourth. I never thought I would write so much about sauce, but each of these dishes seriously has amazing taste. Bread and sauce, baby.

Last but not least, the spanish rice and beans.

We got them to the airport in time, and Chi and I finished the night off with D’Jango Unchained. This movie continues to prove why Quinten Tarantino is my favorite director of all time.

PS: I randomly checked my RSS feed and saw I got my first subscriber sometime last week! So whoever you are, thank you so much for subscribing! It’s such a small accomplishment, but it seriously made my day 🙂

Hasta miércoles!

If you ride, what kind of bike do you have? What’s your favorite hometown restaurant?

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TARA CONDELL

Hello, my name is Tara and I am a twenty something year old living life in San Francisco, CA. Follow me while I embark on a journey to become a Registered Dietitian while enjoying my golden years!
To read more about me, click here.

Contact: tara(@)foodandotherthings.com

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ASPIRING RD

Here is a simplified list of all the things I have to finish before I can successfully have the title of an RD!
1. Get accepted in a Dietetics program2. Finish all my major related classes3. Get accepted into a Dietetic Internship4. Sit for the RD Exam5. Pass and start the beginning of the rest of my life! :)